If You Don't Talk About Yourself... 

I've always had a hard time talking about myself.  When I was a young lad, we lived with my grandmother, and one of her favorite expressions was:"Names of fools are like their faces - always seen in public places."  The interesting thing about that is it was the first phrase that taught me about meter and rhyme scheme - but that's another story.  Certainly I didn't want to be known as a fool, and growing up in a household that was entrenched in pre-Vatican II Catholicism meant that one should always remain humble.  Being in sales, however, has taught me that I have to lean to talk about myself, especially when someone asks, "What do you do?"  Today, schools also have to tell their stories - and emotionally-charged stories about your school help to engage people with its mission.

Back in those days, marketing for Catholic schools wasn't necessary.  All Catholic schools were parochial schools.  New parishes that were created were ordered to build a school first before building a Church.  Religious men and women staffed the schools and were paid next to nothing for their service.  Catholic parents at that time were obliged to send their children to the Catholic school under penalty of mortal sin.

My how times have changed!

With half a century of learning under my belt, I've come to believe that it's not so bad to be a fool, especially a "Fool for Christ."  Things that we do as a faith-filled people may seem strange or even downright foolish to those who don't share our beliefs and faith traditions.  Similarly, there are many in today's society who would like to see faith-based schools disappear, believe that it's foolish to continue to support them, and we are fools for keeping them alive.  If that's the case, then we simply must talk about our schools.

There are three reasons why we need to talk about our schools:

1) If we don't, other people will

2) We are a small voice in a sea of many

3) It will make people interested to learn more about us.

If we don't, other people will

There is little argument today that schools must have a presence on the Web because that's where today's parents and guardian go for information.  There is still significant reluctance, however, to creating a Facebook page or a Twitter account for the school.  There are individuals who host seminars at schools for parents to discuss the dangers of the Internet, and many of them recommend that schools don't get caught up in the Facebook craze.  That's great advice - if you want to close your school.  The interesting thing about Facebook is that is has all but eliminated other social networks like MySpace, one of the first social network sites.  Not only that, but Facebook users tend to "stay" in Facebook.  If someone posts a comment on their personal Facebook page about your school with a link to your school's Web site, that's great.  But for many Facebook users, they expect it to go to a Facebook page about your school - not to your Web site.  If the visitor likes your Facebook page, then they'll continue to your school's Web site.

Why is this important?  Two reasons - first, if your school does not have a Facebook page, it may be viewed as a school that is not savvy about technology.  The Kindergartners entering your school for the 11-12 school year members of the Digital Native (or iGeneration).  They favor computers over books.  They might like to read, but they're using a computer to learn how to read - not just reading an age-appropriate book over and over again, or listening to a book-on-CD, or having someone read to them.  Second, if you opt not to create a Facebook page for your school, then someone else might.  If they do, and post things that are not necessarily positive about your school, you'll have a heck of a time getting rid of it since it's not your account.  Free speech in indeed a double-edged sword today, and some marketing tactics are necessarily pre-emptive strikes again potentially negative publicity.

We are a small voice in a sea of many

With all the messages, media and means of communication that are available today, to remain disengaged from it equates to being lost.  There are those that would say that they're not wasting their time with all this technology simply because there are too many other voices out there today that they'll never be heard.  That's the same argument we've all heard about why people don't vote.  Whenever I hear something like this, I realize the school leadership does not realize the power of the Internet.  It can make the smallest company seem huge; conversely, it can make a relatively strong school look like one on the brink of closure.  Today, the quality of one's Web site equates to the quality of the organization.  Therefore, it doesn't matter how small you think your voice is.  Beside, there's nothing wrong with being a small voice - there's one inside each of us.  It's called a conscience.

It will make people interested to learn more about us.

There is a practice that sales professionals must master called "The Elevator Speech." It involves being able to relate what one does for a living in a matter of the time it takes to enter an elevator and travel to the destination floor. The interesting thing is that the length of this speech used to be two to three minutes.  But some elevators are incredibly fast now, to the point that the challenge is to hone your message down to seven words or less.  Interestingly, that's about the perfect size for a marketing tag line.  As an example, when someone asks me, what do you do, I respond, "Help schools form a firm financial foundation."  Of course, if I'm with my wife, she then says, "For goodness sake, just say you're in sales."  But i want the conversation to continue - perhaps this person is on the board of struggling school, or knows someone who is.  If I say I'm in sales, I might be selling cars, advertising, recording services, or management training (and since I've done all that, someone might respond, "What are you selling now?"  Such a conversation keeps us sales professionals equated with the status of telemarketers today.)

You know, because there is such an aversion to sales professional today, it really does make sense why many of our schools are experiencing enrollment declines, since the enrollment process is essentially a sales process.  Schools are going to have to change their mindsets - and changing minds is what marketing and education is all about.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2011 (Original Publication Date: 20110411)

Back to Marketing Matters Index